[She freezes at those words. Or maybe it's the rest of the world that freezes around them? Or maybe it's both? It certainly feels that way, and for a moment, none of this feels real. It feels like another dream so delicate that, if she so much as breathes, will shatter out from under her. She stares up at him, at the stars behind him, at that look in his eyes, and at the lips that had spoken them, as if searching for any sign that this could or could not be real, all the while her heart leaps and bounds in her chest, racing its way to him.
Had she been ready to hear it? She doesn't know. Had she been ready to admit that much herself? No, definitely not, but...
As she gazes at him and sees the depth in his eyes, the meaning that shines within them so crystal clear, she doesn't think that it matters anymore. It was that place that she was not prepared to go, if only because she really does fear the fickle nature of this world, but would it be so terrible to at least allow herself that happiness? Why shield herself from it only because she is afraid of losing it all? Maybe that's why she's been the way she has lately... Too afraid that if she breaks from routine, from normalcy, that it will change everything. She dug her heels in and so desperately tried to bury her roots, but she'd become scared of toppling over at the slightest breeze.
And this is so much more than that and yet...]
I... I love you.
[The words spill out of her in turn, her heart saying them before anything else in her could stop them, even if she wanted to. But she doesn't. Is it too early in their relationship? Maybe, but it is easy to forget of all the things that they had been through before that. Of the friendship that they had forged beneath everything else that she doesn't have to fear losing him if this... if they don't work.]
I love you, too. I have... I think, for a long time.
[She doesn't realize that tears have started to well up in her eyes until she feels the burn of them, but they are far from sad. They come from a place of relief and joy at finally being able to admit it aloud, and she deflates into the flowers with a sigh as a weight finally feels like it's been lifted.]
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Had she been ready to hear it? She doesn't know. Had she been ready to admit that much herself? No, definitely not, but...
As she gazes at him and sees the depth in his eyes, the meaning that shines within them so crystal clear, she doesn't think that it matters anymore. It was that place that she was not prepared to go, if only because she really does fear the fickle nature of this world, but would it be so terrible to at least allow herself that happiness? Why shield herself from it only because she is afraid of losing it all? Maybe that's why she's been the way she has lately... Too afraid that if she breaks from routine, from normalcy, that it will change everything. She dug her heels in and so desperately tried to bury her roots, but she'd become scared of toppling over at the slightest breeze.
And this is so much more than that and yet...]
I... I love you.
[The words spill out of her in turn, her heart saying them before anything else in her could stop them, even if she wanted to. But she doesn't. Is it too early in their relationship? Maybe, but it is easy to forget of all the things that they had been through before that. Of the friendship that they had forged beneath everything else that she doesn't have to fear losing him if this... if they don't work.]
I love you, too. I have... I think, for a long time.
[She doesn't realize that tears have started to well up in her eyes until she feels the burn of them, but they are far from sad. They come from a place of relief and joy at finally being able to admit it aloud, and she deflates into the flowers with a sigh as a weight finally feels like it's been lifted.]